A visitor returns

[Ivanhoe]

Good evening everyone .
This is my first post on here for at least six months had some work away and had no time to do anything in my garden or post or help anyone out if i could .
I am now back for what could be a good while yet given the situation we are all in .
The problem i have is while i was away my wife has been tending to my veg plot she basically emptied it when veg was ripe she lifted it and left the bed alone .
I was also told that whilst i was away Roland came visiting and he and his wife had a good few litters of babies .
She said they was under my shed or in the compost heap which was nicely rotting down after advice i got on here last year .
The rats have gone now after using some bait and a couple of hours with my air gun .
My question is if the Rats have nested in the compost heap would they have damaged the compost and if so what could i use it for .
Sounds daft but what should i look for to find out if the rats have been in my compost heap ?

[burnie]

The danger from rats as I was told is their urine which can harbour Weils disease in water, no idea how long it might take to dissipate if it were present, maybe some googling required.

[lottie dolly]

welcome back ivanhoe

[SarrissUK]

Welcome back Ivanhoe

[Mark_Riga]

You could use the compost on any beds you grow food for cooking to be safe - potatoes, pumpkins courgettes etc and wear something like marigold kitchen gloves while handling. I doubt their urine has infection that is active for very long as they must run round most allotments and they don't have a bladder so dribble more or less continuously.

[Bonjour]

If they have been in your heap, which is likely, because they like the warmth of decomposition, they have probably nested in there, so look out for nesting material. I personally wouldn't worry too much about rat urine. As Mark said above, I bet most allotment sites have a fair sprinkling and, anyway, in a compost heap the nitrogen in urine is used in the bacterial decomposition of the carbon based materials.

Once upon a time, we had rats in a compost heap at a house we were renting. The local authority pest control man came round and baited to get rid. He remarked at the time "You've got a compost heap and you're growing brassicas, a perfect recipe for rats". Since then, my composting is done on the allotment, not in the garden.

[Mark Rand]

they don't have a bladder so dribble more or less continuously.

Rats have a perfectly good bladder. They do, however, tend to scent mark things, just like dogs.

We kept and bred pet rats for 30 years, with a peak of 56 of them...

[PyreneesPlot]

I almost always have rats in my compost heaps except when the grass snakes move in, and the numbers never become high. But we are very rural so they are part of the natural balance rather than a pest.
The compost goes on all my veg plots regardless of if the food is to be cooked or not.
One became so atuned to the sound of me arriving with the bucket of kitchen veg scraps that it would come out to check on the goodies, eventually taking food from my hand. But I like rats and used to keep them as pets.

[Ivanhoe]

Thanks a lot hopefully i will be able to start some serious work in my veg garden now .
Last day of domestic work today putting together TV cabinet and installing a new TV and media box .
Just finished so tomorrow rags on get my old trainers out and digging commences .

[Nicos]

Good to see you back!